Lawrence v. State

DeBRULER, Justice.

Appellant, Billy E. Lawrence, Sr., was convicted on four counts of the offense of child molesting in violation of Ind.Code § 35-42-4-8(a). Appellant was forty-four years of age at the time of the alleged offense, and the putative victim in each count was a nine year-old neighborhood girl. The separate counts charged fondling, sexual intercourse, and anal and oral copulation. He received sentences totalling fifty years. _

I

The first question is whether the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a rape conviction of appellant twenty-two years before the charged offenses, in…